chefs at La Fête du Champagne in London 2017

Arnaud Lallement

In 1997, having recently completed his studies at the school of hospitality in Strasbourg and interned in such grand houses as Roger Vergé, Michel Guérard and Alain Chapel, Arnaud Lallement returned home to work alongside his father, Jean Pierre Lallement, at the family establishment, a beautiful turn of the century home surrounded by gardens on the outskirts of Reims.

In 2000, he took over full responsibility of the kitchens at L’Assiette Champenoise. Today, Arnaud and his team work exclusively with high quality products, with both great love and a true passion for fine cuisine.

In 2001, at the age of 26, Arnaud was awarded his first Michelin Star. Sadly, his father, the founder of L’Assiette Champenoise, passed away shortly thereafter, at the age of 51.

In 2003, Arnaud wrote his first cookbook “Carnet des Saveurs en Champagne.” That same year, he was the youngest chef chosen by Alain Ducasse for the Fou-Food France, a campaign that allows young provincial chefs to present their expertise at a Parisian table.

In March 2005, L’Assiette Champenoise received its second star in the Michelin guide and Arnaud renovated both the kitchen and dining room of the restaurant.

In 2006, Arnaud was welcomed into the “Grandes Tables Du Monde” organization.

In 2010, Arnaud celebrated 10 years of collaboration with Olivier Krug of Champagne Krug as well as his family’s 35th anniversary at L’Assiette Champenoise. Together, Arnaud and Olivier have established regular champagne pairings for the delight of their clients.

In October 2012 the restaurant received “5 Toques” by the Gault Millau guide.

In February 2013, the 35 rooms and suite hotel, associated with the restaurant, obtained five stars.

In October 2013, Arnaud Lallement was voted “Chef of the Year 2014” by the Gault Millau guide.

In February 2014, the Michelin guide awarded him a third star and Arnaud Lallement entered the exclusive circle of the 27 best restaurants in France with 3 Michelin stars.

In September 2014, Arnaud Lallement was elected “Chef of the Year” by the magazine Le Chef.

In October 2016, Arnaud Lallement obtained the grade of 19.5 from the influential French restaurant guide Gault and Millau and also released his book "Emotion en Champagne."

In December 2016, he obtained the 4th highest rating of the List with a grade of 99.

James Knappet

Bubbledogs and Kitchen Table Head Chef James Knappett has worked at some of the world’s most highly-regarded and celebrated restaurants. Having spent time in the kitchens at The Ledbury under Brett Graham (two Michelin stars) and at Marcus Wareing’s The Berkeley (also two stars), James has also worked under Gordon Ramsay at Royal Hospital Road (three stars) and Rick Stein's The Seafood Restaurant in Padstow. James worked for two-years in the kitchen at the ‘World’s Best Restaurant’ Noma (two stars) and Thomas Keller’s NYC restaurant, Per Se (three stars), which is where he met his now wife and business partner, Sandia Chang.

About Kitchen Table:

Kitchen Table is the intimate ‘chef’s table dining room’ tucked away behind bubbledogs& restaurant in Fitzrovia. With just 19 seats at the stainless steel bar that surrounds Head Chef James Knappett’s open kitchen, Kitchen Table sees James and his team prepare, serve and talk diners through an exciting daily changing 12-14 course tasting menu of unique, contemporary European dishes. The daily menu is always based on the best and freshest ingredients they get on the day. Many of James’ signature dishes bear hallmarks of his time at world-renowned restaurants Noma (Copenhagen) and Per Se (New York), with a strong focus on British traditions, ingredients and flavours. James personally forages for many of the produce used on his menu. Each dish is named by a single word, denoted by its main ingredient and written on the blackboard in the restaurant. Some of James’ signature dishes include: ‘Beetroot’ – beetroot, fennel and garlic scapes; ‘Chicken’ - chicken skin, grilled onion and burrata milk; ‘Beef’ - beef, dead nettle and carrot; and ‘Hay’ - hay, strawberry, malt and sweet cicely.

Jonny Lake

Jonny Lake is Executive Chef of The Fat Duck Group, and oversees Heston Blumenthal’s three Michelin starred restaurant The Fat Duck in Bray as well as The Hind’s Head, The Crown at Bray and The Perfectionists’ Cafe.

A native of Ontario, Canada, Jonny’s interest in science preceded his interest in cooking. In his early twenties, he moved to Montreal to study physics and biology at university. Whilst finishing his degree, he started two things that would alter the course of his life: cooking at home and volunteering at a “Meals on Wheels” charity, Santropol Roulant. It was here Jonny packed and delivered meals to the population of Montreal who had difficulty accessing food. Most importantly, he also started cooking.

The time Jonny spent at Santropol not only made him aware of his innate talent, it made him realise that with cooking, learning is endless. As he puts it, “You can learn something new in the kitchen every single day if you ask enough questions.” After graduation, Jonny spent 18 months honing his skills at the Institut de Tourisme et d’Hotellerie du Quebec, the largest professional chef training programme in Montreal.

Jonny excelled at culinary school and upon graduation, he was granted a bursary to pay for a three-month stage in Italy. His culinary career began. In Savona, Liguria he worked at the one Michelin starred A-Spurcacciun-a, a fish and seafood restaurant. In the off-season, he would stage at Quintillo in Altare, Liguria. He left Savona to work at Gultiero Marchesi’s two Michelin starred restaurant in the L’Albereta Resort in Erbusco.

He joined The Fat Duck in 2005 as a chef de partie. It was an ideal fit. Jonny parallels Heston’s curiosity and relentless pursuit of food perfection, and states “The thing that I enjoy most about The Fat Duck is that we are always looking at different ways to do things.”

Jonny was named Head Chef of The Fat Duck in November 2009, and became Executive Chef of the Group in 2016.

Outside of work, Jonny loves to spend time with his family. As a father of three, an older daughter and twins, most of his days off are spoken for. On the rare occasion when he has time, he likes to dine out and experience other chefs’ cooking. These days, the motorcycle that he also loves gets nothing more than a wistful glance.

Isaac Mchale

Isaac McHale, 35, is chef-owner of The Clove Club and Luca in London. Born in Orkney in Scotland, McHale's career started in Glasgow working in restaurants while still at high school, before a stint at Marque in Sydney and, much later, Noma in Copenhagen. McHale came to London 14 years ago to work for Tom Aikens and then at The Ledbury for six years, where he was made Development Chef.

In 2011 McHale along with friends formed the internationally acclaimed Young Turks collective, running a series of highly praised one off pop-up events in locations around London, their success leading to a six-month residency above The Ten Bells Pub in Spitalfields. He is one of the vanguard of high profile new generation of British chefs making waves at the moment.

THE CLOVE CLUB

The Clove Club opened in March 2013 and quickly established itself at the forefront of the UK dining scene, being voted no 5 Best Restaurant in the UK after 5 months open, moving up to no 2 the following year. In 2015 they were voted no 55 in the World’s Best Restaurants list, and in 2016 rose to No 26 in the world, the Highest new entry in the top 50.

The food at the Clove Club is thoughtful, pared back, elegant, with familiar flavours and with just enough of a difference to push it off-centre and make it interesting.

Isaac describes the restaurant best: “Above all we wanted to do something personal to us - a restaurant for our generation.”

The Clove Club is just that - a restaurant for a new generation - a place where people can come for good food, enjoy personable service and feel comfortable.